Public and private hunger for gambling profits points to 'corrosive effects' of gambling

Wes Ehrecke, president of the Iowa Gaming Association, talks about plans to introduce a bill in the Iowa Legislature that would allow Iowans to legally bet on sports events if the U.S. Supreme Court rules favorably in a pending case.
William Petroski/The Register

I submit it is not the questioning public that is hostile to religion, but the religious institutions themselves that are hostile to their own values.

The money nine Catholic schools and one Christian academy received in 2012 and 2013 came from gambling profits at Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino.

The overwhelming majority of gambling profits come from people losing money at slot machines, gaming tables and horse race betting. It's long been questioned whether taking money from this type of source lines up with God's admonition of "thou shalt not covet" in the 10th Commandment.

"A desire to gain by another's loss is a violation of the 10th Commandment: all gaming, therefore, since it implies a desire to profit at the expense of another, involves a breach of the 10th Commandment," theologian Richard Whately wrote in the mid-1800s.

But one can hardly single out the Catholics for being hungry for Prairie Meadows money. Scores of institutions both public and private are as addicted to gambling money as any one of the problem gamblers who attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings Friday evenings at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul.

Bishop Richard Pates celebrates Mass in an undated photo provided by the Diocese of Des Moines. Pates submitted his resignation to Pope Francis when he turned 75, which is required by Canon law. Pates has been with the diocese for 10 years.(Photo11: Diocese of Des Moines)

Taking Prairie Meadows money means you are very likely taking some money that was lost by a compulsive gambler — an addiction defined as a mental illness by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

A male gambling addict accumulates average debt between $55,000 and $90,000, the report said, and females average $15,000.

"Most cannot afford to pay back what they owe," the report said. "As a result, gambling addicts develop a high tendency to amass even more debt, suffer from other health issues, lose their jobs, strain their relationships or even commit crimes."

This is the money we want to pay for technology in our schools, religious or otherwise?

"This is another example of the corrosive effects of gambling in our society," said Tom Coates, executive director of Consumer Credit of Des Moines, a group that helps gambling addicts and others sort out credit problems. "The more places that take money from the gambling industry, the more dependent we become on them — and that's exactly the way they want it."

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The revelation of questionable grants by the Polk County Board of Supervisors to religious schools shows the "corrosive effects of gambling in our society," said longtime gambling opponent Tom Coates.(Photo11: The Record-Herald)

Just look at the byzantine methodology the Polk County Board of Supervisors went through to dole out money to religious schools.

The board's own attorney, Michael B. O'Meara, advised against making the grants in 2011.

So the supervisors worked with Vincent Scavo to create a shell company run out of Scavo's house to funnel the money from the county to the parochial schools, allowing them to skirt both county regulations and state law.

Then they admitted they essentially did exactly what Kauffman reported they did. In fact, they were so proud of it, they hired a public relations firm — paid for by taxpayer money, of course — to tell the public what a great job they're doing.

The diocese on the other hand, seemingly flip-flopped on the legality of the taking the money in the span of a day.

"Gambling money leads us into all sorts of ethical dilemmas," said Clark Wolf, an Iowa State University philosophy professor. "We know gambling causes negative effects in society and to individuals. It's hard to find ethical solutions that involves those negatives."

The gambling proponents sing a familiar refrain whenever they're questioned about what harm they bring. They say the overwhelming majority of their customers can have an evening at the tables or the track without a problem.

That's true.

But what defines the human progress is not what entertains the majority without trouble, but how much value we put on just one life.